BONUS TRACKS: Vaccine Requirements and a New Project from Dolly Parton

As hospitals started filling up again and COVID-19 cases spiked in many places in the US this week, venues and artists alike took action to make sure their events aren’t causing any further spread. Most notably in the roots music world, Jason Isbell announced his upcoming shows would require attendees to provide proof of COVID vaccination or a negative test result. It caused the cancelation of one show, in Houston, when the venue either wouldn’t or couldn’t comply (Isbell and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion have differing accounts of the situation) and a shift in venue for another, in Fort Worth. Isbell talked to Rolling Stone about why he is taking this stand and how it has played out so far.

As many other artists have started following Isbell’s lead, venues have been drawing the line, too, requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination or negative test no matter who is playing. Most venues have made the call one by one, but several in Nashville banded together this week to present a united front. The Basement East, Exit/In, 3rd and Lindsley, City Winery, and the 5 Spot are among participating venues. You can read more about their decision and their policies via Nashville public radio station WPLN.

And on Thursday, concert promoter AEG said it, too, would require proof of vaccination for entry as of Oct. 1. Before that date, a vaccine card or a negative test within 72 hours will be accepted. AEG operates major festivals including Coachella and Stagecoach, as well as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which was canceled earlier this week due to a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Louisiana. AEG also runs large venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It is the second largest concert promoter in the US, behind Live Nation, which for now is leaving decisions about COVID-19 restrictions up to artists. Read more about AEG’s announcement at Consequence.

Don’t worry, y’all, I do have a piece of non-COVID-related news to share this week! (Though if you’re sick of hearing about COVID, please make sure you’re vaccinated and thus helping to bring closer the day when it’s all behind us, OK?) Dolly Parton is expanding her empire to include a novel, with a little help from someone who knows a thing or two about them: James Patterson, author of approximately eleventy billion novels himself. Parton and Patterson’s book, Run, Rose, Run, is the story of an aspiring musician with a secret who moves to Nashville to chase her dream. It will be published by Little, Brown, and Company next March, and naturally there will be an accompanying album, with 12 songs based on characters and situations from the book. Read more about the project and get a look at the cover at People.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Leah Blevins – First Time Feeling
They Might Be Giants – “I Can’t Remember the Dream,” from their new album, Book, coming in October
Mike and the Moonpies – One to Grow On
War and Pierce (Sunny War and Chris Pierce) – “Mercy”
Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna
Emily Scott Robinson – “Old Gods”
Big Thief – “Little Things”
Joshua Ray Walker – “Sexy After Dark,” from his new album, See You Next Time, coming in October